A/N: - Ok, first thing, reviews – thank you to those who did and to those who didn't; please do! This is not a happy story and I know it's unlike me to write a dark story such as this but I wanted one in my collection and I would really appreciate some more feedback. Right, now, shout-outs to the lovely people that reviewed for me: -

Lioness-Goddess: - Thank you so much for your review – here's the next part – and I hated killing off Donnie, but in this one someone else gets killed…it's so painful to do…I am dreading the moment when I have to…I'll stop right there ;-)

Chibi Rose Angel: - It was so nice to have your encouragement with this story as I was a little nervous of writing a darker story with no comedy – and the ending will be just as dark as the beginning. I would say I am being 'experimental' rather than 'cracking' though – in spite of what some people may say about me (looks pointedly in direction of little brother)!

Leo ran through the twisting corridors of the Foot Headquarters, searching for any clues that might lead to the finding of his brother…alive or dead, he did not know which it would be but he was frantically hoping with every bone in his body that it would not be the latter. His honour would not allow him to leave the Headquarters without avenging his already fallen brother and Leo's attachment to honour and fulfilling its code was astounding; he would eliminate the Shredder or at least leave him a calling card of some kind. His keen senses were on full alert for anything, however small, that might signal to the whereabouts of Raphael and, after a good thirty minutes of fruitless wandering through the winding hallways, his ears finally picked up on a sound. A sharp crack, the sound of a whip on a stone floor, cold and laden with the cruelty of the master that used it; the sound of a whip on a stone floor, that's how it could be described – a stone floor or possibly a shell. Pushing his already aching limbs at a faster, almost rhythmic, pace than he ever would have deemed possible under normal circumstances, Leonardo followed the repetitive sounds of the whip, cringing every time it cracked through near certainty that his precious brother would be on the receiving end.

Ducking into a closet or storage room of some sort, Leo watched as three men left the room, merrily chatting among themselves, but their gruff voices laced with a sense of bloodthirsty triumph. Slinking out of his hiding place and into the room the three Foot ninjas had just left, Leo was greeted by a sight no eighteen year old should ever have to see at such a tender age; a sight so horrifying that no living creature deserves to witness it in their entire lifespan.

"Raphael…" his voice was almost gone and he could not bring himself to speak, in spite of a deep longing to utter words of reassurance and comfort to his younger brother. Raph was chained to the wall, his shape resembling the one formed when performing a star jump, his head fallen loosely onto his chest in unconsciousness. Unable to move, Leo took in the full and horrific extent of his brother's injuries. The red-clad turtle's bandana was soaked in sweat, his plastron bearing a grid-like pattern of raw welts obtained from the harsh whips of the Foot. His whole body was unrecognisable as the bruises and gashes coated him from top to toe, his arms lifeless – dislocated, Leo suspected - and his legs were mangled and covered in lacerations. Savagely beaten, he had, with no doubts, endured the pain with as much defiance and strength as he could muster as the barbaric Foot ninjas had mercilessly attacked him over and over while he hung, defenceless, a victim to their every brutal desire. The blood that spattered the walls and floor around his brother made Leo mentally retch and he used every inch of his inner-strength and courage to resist the overwhelming urge to throw-up, break down in tears or go out on a rampage to slaughter as many of those in league with Shredder as he possibly could in one night – in his opinion, there where not enough hours in a century to contain the punishments Shredder and his clan should receive.

Snapping out of his stupor, he darted forward and sliced through the chains that suspended his brother. Gently lowering him to the ground, Leo noticed that the wounds were far more gruesome, shocking and grisly close up.

"C'mon, bro, speak to me," he urged.

"I knew you…would find me…" Raph smiled softly at his brother, his face distorted with pain and a large chunk out of the skin on his left cheek causing him obvious discomfort as he spoke.

"Sssh, you'll be ok now – I've got you and you're safe and we'll make it back to the lair together and we'll get you all fixed up. You just have to hold on and stay awake," Leo gently coaxed his brother, hoping to all that was pure that he would not fail Raph as he had so dismally failed Donnie.

"Leo…just so you know," Raph drew in a sharp intake of breath as a fresh wave of pain coursed through his weak frame, "I will miss…you most of all…in all our fights, I never meant what I said…I love ya, bro," Raph strained to get the words out, partly due to his dying strength but also because he found it immensely difficult to admit he loved Leo and it was likewise with Leo to him; both knew it was true but neither needed to speak it, at risk of Mikey and Donnie teasing for months – as long as the other knew then it was more than enough.

"I know, now save your strength, I can't lose you too,"

"Too?" Raph questioned, voice suddenly increasing in strength.

"Raph, I…" Leo tried to think of an easy way to put it, but could think of none, "Donnie fell from the building – he died."

"Alone? No-one was even with him?" Raph's voice now had concern and distress smothering the pain he was longing to show. Another, deeper, wound had just been added to his collection.

"Not alone; I was with him in the end, when he passed away," Leo sighed. And at that point, Raph saw in his brother's face a pain and guilt so far down and so firmly rooted into his soul that it could never be destroyed, only fuelled until it took over and separated him from his rational mind.

"That, at least, counts for a lot," Raph smiled, eyelids drooping.

"Raph, please don't fall asleep – don't leave me now – not now,"

"I'm not gonna," Raph forced a small chuckle, "all I'm going to do is rest,"

"No…you'll fall asleep and then I won't be able to get you back!"

"Leo, chill out – you said it yourself: we're gonna make it back to the lair together and get me all fixed up again."

"We're a shell of a state, huh?"

"You got it,"

"C'mon, let's get moving," Leo stood and gently lifted his brother, in spite of the hot-head's protests, saying he didn't need to be carried and could probably walk. Leo scoffed at this and gave Raph a lecture as they walked.

"Leo…there's a light," Raph's voice was dreamy, misty and full of an unspoken fear so intense that he shuddered a little in his brother's arms.

"A light?" Leo frowned, looking down into his brother's face.

"Bright white – calling me – I have to answer---"

"No, Raphael, you cannot and will not answer its call. It is calling you into death and waiting to suck your life from you."

"Please, Leo – you know as well as I do that I won't make it…better to die now, at the hands of my enemies and cause as little pain to you as possible…"

"No…no…not now, it's not your turn!"

"But it is, Leonardo," Raph used his brother's full name for what would probably be the last time he would ever speak it, "and this way, Donnie will have company. He'll be scared, Leo, you know he will be – I don't want him to face whatever happens next on his own."

"But you can make it; your voice is stronger already."

"I am spent, Leo – this is my last ounce of strength and it is almost gone."

"What a touching testament this is," Shredder's hollow laugh filled the ears of both turtles. He appeared, sword drawn, and readied to attack them. Laying his brother down on the floor, Leo drew his katana.

"Don't you dare give up, Raph, or you will have me to answer to when I finally join you wherever it is you would go!" he growled to his brother under his breath before turning to face the being responsible for the death of Donnie and the grotesque wounds that covered Raph's body, rendering him weak and helpless.

"So, we face each other once more, as we have done on many an occasion," Shredder's voice was one of mockery and scorn towards the blue-clad leader of the 'thorns in his side' that had been twisting and slowly defeating him for so long, "your brother will not make it," he voiced what Leo silently knew deep down, "so how about you surrender and you can journey with him into whatever awaits us when our bodies are no more and our spirits are free."

"I shall never surrender to the likes of you!" Leo snarled menacingly, advancing on the Shredder and at once becoming engaged in heated combat with him. From the sidelines, Raph watched, wishing he could do something to help his brother. He felt himself slipping and tried to resist, in a futile attempt to obey his brother's order, for once, and prevent Leo getting distracted from his present dilemma. But he could not fight the pain, the sorrow, the light that beckoned to him softly – I'm sorry, Leo – never forget me, he thought peacefully, knowing in his heart that his big brother and leader would hear him and know instinctively what had happened. Sure enough, Leo felt his brother's life drain from him and kicked Shredder with enhanced vigour before grabbing his brother's now lifeless body and running for the exit, angry tears now blurring his vision and falling onto the bloody body in his arms, cutting small paths in the blood on the red-clad turtle's peaceful face. He heard a whisper on the wind and listened as the voice of his brother sent a final farewell and, in the distant sewers; he felt two more stabs of indescribable grief hit two others who had felt the passing of one they loved.

Staggering faintly into the lair, carrying the bloodied corpse of his beloved brother, Leo barely had time to calm himself down a little before Mikey burst into the living room from Don's room and flew towards Leo, skidding to a halt just before he reached his oldest brother, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Raph?" he croaked, looking desperately from Leo to Raph and back to Leo again. The eldest turtle just shook his head slightly, not breaking eye contact with Michelangelo for a single second. Mikey turned on his heels, clicking to what his brother was trying to get across without actually having to say the words themselves, and ran into his room, slamming the door and collapsing in a flurry of tears the other side of the door. Laying Raph in his room, among the mess of wrestling posters, comics and various objects that cluttered the hot-head's domain, Leo knelt by the bedside of his dead brother and took his hand tightly in his own, finally letting himself break down into heart-wrenching sobs, hardly recognising that Splinter had arrived behind him. Trying in vain to compose himself, he turned to his Sensei.

"I tried to save him, Master Splinter, I swear I did."

"Trying is sometimes not enough," Splinter mumbled in a vain attempt at comfort, bitter tears cutting jagged paths down the grey fur of his cheeks, "I am sorry, my son, but please leave Raphael and myself alone for a few moments." Splinter helped his eldest son up and ushered him gently out of the room, in spite of Leonardo's unspoken reluctance to go anywhere. Once outside of Raphael's now tomb-like room, he sighed deeply, silent tears flowing in an unstoppable torrent and overwhelming his ability to think and do anything, even go and see how Mikey was. He sat wearily on the sofa and pulled his knees up to his plastron and hugging them so tightly that he began to lose the feeling in them, a good thing as all they were doing was aching at the present time. His family was being torn apart and destroyed…one member at a time.

A/N: - Two words for all you readers out there: PLEASE REVIEW – and another two for if you do: THANK-YOU!